We asked for a 60-day extension of the current contract, but the university would only agree to 30 days. That means all the rights, protections, and benefits in our existing contract remain through September 30. We also signed eight temporary agreements on articles we have improved by negotiating. While these articles are significant, the university’s response to our proposals on pay, health insurance, reappointment, retirement, and protections against course cancellation has been minimal. Our proposal to pay adjuncts for grading and office hours was met with silence.
The Bargaining Committee has been bold. You can see some of our contract proposals and NYU’s responses here.
Meanwhile, the university’s proposal on compensation – a 4.0 percent increase in the first year and 2.5 percent each year after that – is insulting. Equally insulting, NYU recently handed out $2,000-$5,000 COVID bonuses to non-union faculty. Adjuncts were not included. The university even rejected a Health and Safety proposal that would make our classrooms safer, saying it does not want to “contractualize compliance” with government standards.
The Bargaining Committee is continuing the fight, and we need you to show your support. In the coming semester we will begin a series of townhall meetings on strike authorization. This does not mean we will strike. But we will take a vote, and a yes vote will allow us to set a date for a strike. We hope a strike will not be necessary. But NYU’s obstinate refusal to agree to changes that will improve working conditions for adjunct faculty has forced our hand. To vote on this important issue, please make sure you have signed and submitted a membership card.
You can follow the Bargaining Committee’s progress here. If you want to join our Organizing Committee and support the work of the Bargaining Committee, please sign up here.
In Solidarity,
The NYU Bargaining Committee
